The Crisis that Gets worse in America-Obesity

According to statistics 2/3 of Americans are obese or overweight. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) states that obesity in America has increased by 60% within the last twenty years while obesity in children has tripled in the past thirty years.
One would think that a nation like America which claim to lead the world in knowledge and progress would be better informed about such a risky healthy situation. This it seems is one area that America has failed or is unable to tame. It is submitted that before this problem can be solved, there is need to understand why America has this problem. Until this is done the problem will continue and as usual it will be normalized to make obese people feel good about their condition while increasing the numbers.

I have observed that there is a double message that is being communicated when it comes to obesity. On the one hand, it stated there is a problem caused by something that people are doing or not doing but on the other hand it is no one’s fault that people are obese. Lately some researchers are starting to justify obesity as being genetic. One then must ask whether this gene is prevalent in America.

Tied with obesity crisis is the addiction problem which again is prevalent in America or perhaps in the Western world. If one is not addicted to alcohol or drugs, One is addicted to sex, another to food, and God knows what else. This again is said to be genetic and people should not be blamed for choosing such lifestyles. After all they cannot help themselves. In reality though, American lifestyle is tied to this crisis.

For one, America, like most Western countries is an individualistic nation where community accountability is not appreciated. It seems like people are disconnected and although they are together they are disjointed. There is also a separation between the spiritual and the physical. Virginia Satir, a humanist and experiential therapist, argues that the separation of mind and soul has led the person from the Western world to equate their identity with their mind and not with their whole being.

Satir further contends that as a consequence most individuals feel “isolated inside their bodies” (Satir & Baldwin, P 167). This inner fragmentation mirrors the outside world, which is seen as a multitude of separate parts existing for the benefit of separate interest groups. The result of this is alienation from nature and other human beings. God created human beings to function as both spiritual and physical beings in a community.

When human beings are not living as intended they will act out somehow. They will look for something to feel the void. Some may turn to food, others sex, others drugs and alcohol among such things. These things by themselves cannot solve the problem and as such they end up controlling the person. People use Food as a companion, as a comfort or as medication when it was never intended to.

The other thing is the “fast” life that Americans thrive in. It seems to me like they are a people chasing after something which I suspect they do not even know what it is. Most Americans will tell you with pride that they work 16 hours a day or they have three jobs. While we all value the ethics of hard work and the ability to provide for oneself and family, how can anyone who works like that still expect to function with normalcy? Rest and relationships are part of our wholeness and when this is lacking one will fill the void with something else.

Tied to the fast life is the fast food culture. Instead of eating a diet of pure, wholesome foods coming directly from the land, Americans eat a diet of packaged, processed, and refined foods. “Fast-food restaurants have become mainstream in the past 30 years and practically all of America takes advantage of the cheap prices, quick service and tasty meals”. Convenient as these foods maybe, the fact of the matter is that they contain practically no nutrients.

Most fast foods are comprised of saturated fats and highly refined carbohydrates as well as being loaded with sodium and sugar. Even the school foods epitomizes the American culture of eating. The school meals are unhealthy and has helped to create more obese children. Few Americans ever cook fresh foods from the scratch and there seems to be a conspiracy to encourage this. I say this because foods like fresh vegetables and fruits are the most expensive compared to processed foods.

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